On the ground of Bennelong Point, named after Woollarawarre Bennelong of the Eora people, inside the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, The Drones performed their classic cover of aboriginal folk singer Kev Carmody’s River of Tears:

A Marrickville brother under legal cover / In his home they gunned him downSad river of tears / Two hundred years
(Carmody 1990)

That time of year has come, and the “best of 2012” lists are proliferating. Overall I’m listening to less music than ever, due to a podcast addiction, but I still think 2012 has been a good year for album releases. Here is my top ten. Make that eleven.

Japanese avant-pop duo, Tenniscoats, released All Aboard in July this year. I’m a bit late to the party with this review, but I’ve spent the long weekend falling in love with this album, so here we are.

A new album from Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, is a rare and noteworthy event. She has come a long way from the raw early days of Dear Sir and Myra Lee, with Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley on drums and championing her on his own record label.

Her previous album, Jukebox was a covers record released in 2008, so it has been a long time between drinks. I first saw Cat Power live in Brisbane at The Zoo in around 1998 or 1999, following her release of the much-acclaimed Moon Pix. That album, and her tour, featured Jim White and Mick Turner of The Dirty Three, but even their commanding presence wasn’t enough to keep the live shows together. Chan was extremely shy and kept starting songs over, apologising to the audience and turning her back on us. I’ve since seen her again twice, once in Wollongong then again at the Sydney Opera House. She has greatly matured as a performer; I don’t miss the false starts, though I do at times miss the bleak emotion of her early records.